Getting one album a year set up and released is enough of a chore amid the smoking ruins of the music business. While albums frequently dropped every four to six months in the 1960s, unless you're multi-band-leader Jack White, the lag time between major releases these days tends to be three or more years. And if you're Guns N' Roses or Dr. Dre, well ...

Some, like Lil Wayne, pack that gap with hundreds of mixtape tunes and guest appearances, but even Weezy seems to be struggling to nail what is shaping up to be the new brass bragging ring in the biz: the two (or three) albums in a year watermark. While his rock album, Rebirth, was supposed to be released this spring, last we knew it was still in the "TBD" category.

So far this year, we've had U2, Eminem and Coldplay saying they'll drop a second brand-new disc of material either in the same calendar year or within 365 days of their most recent efforts. But considering the gaps between their two most recent releases (almost five years, five years and three years, respectively), and the fact that they're among the biggest acts in the world, turning that ship around so quickly would be impressive, though highly unlikely. Read more...

The Edge may have accidentally started a beef with Sting when he, along with his U2 bandmates, did a top-10 list about themselves during their "Late Night With David Letterman" residency last week.

For those who missed it, one item on the list was "Cool name: The Edge. Uncool name: Sting." Everyone seemed to make a big deal of it the next day, seemingly eager for a beef between these two guys with strange nicknames.

But when MTV News caught up with the guys last night at their secret show in Boston, The Edge used it as a place to clear the air and reassure fans of both Sting and U2 that there's nothing but love between the guys.

By Rya Backer

Lots of stories going on in the newsroom, and Tim Kash found some kindness in his heart to sit down and chat about 'em earlier today.

If you liked "Iron Man," there's a pretty good chance you'll like "Iron Man 2." Some big names have been added to the film's cast, and our movies editor, Josh Horowitz, is here to talk about them.

Last night, our very own Sway helped U2 host a very intimate concert in the very, very U2-obsessed city of Boston. Find out what he thought of the show, and check out our videos!

And lastly, Taylor Swift is headlining her own nationwide tour! What? Didn't you do the very same when you were 19?

That oughtta hold you over until tomorrow. Talk to you then!

Now that was an "OMG!" moment.

It's not every day that U2's management calls your boss and requests your services.

The pressure was on. My introduction to U2 happened in 1992, when I went to the Oakland Coliseum to see Public Enemy. I didn't know that U2 were headlining — or even who they were — but to my surprise, their performance blew me away and opened my mind to contemporary rock music. And now they wanted me to host a global radio broadcast!

I was just trying to get in the zone all day. It's one thing to prepare and research, but wrangling your emotions when everything's going crazy around you is another thing entirely. And it was crazy in the Somerville Theatre!

The band was soundchecking clear up until doors. There were thousands of fans outside trying to get in. Police everywhere, satellite trucks, TV production — the works.

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Have you ever gone to church after not being there for a while, and you hear a really illuminating, all-knowing sermon, and you feel cleansed? You walk away from the church feeling 10 pounds lighter and like a giant weight has been lifted from your consciousness. Anyway, that's how I felt after interviewing U2. Interviewing them made me feel how I used to feel when I first got into the game.

They were excited about music culture. As big as they've become, they have more humility and hunger than rappers I've interviewed who've only had one hit in the past year. Music to them is not just plucking their strings; it's spiritual. Them boys live to play, and they love to create and they love to make an impact on those who listen, and they want to be as good as they can be. They care immensely about their fans.

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By Kathleen Newman-Bremang

U2 can now add having their very own street (temporarily) to their stacked list of accomplishments. MTV News was there when the rockers christened U2 Way in New York City.

Can't wait for Kelly Clarkson's new album to drop? If you didn't already check it out when the songs were leaked last month, MTV has the official preview of Kelly's highly anticipated comeback.

Usher has some words of advice for Chris Brown. From one R&B star to another, Usher says Brown should lay low and stay off the jet skis. Read more...

By Melanie Wolfson

Sprinting down 10 city blocks to be within 10 feet of Bono and the rest of U2 was not what I was expecting for my Tuesday agenda. But this is MTV News, and my time as an intern here has continued to provide one surprise after the next!

The day started off normally (I had made about eight trips up and down the elevator running errands), and I was in the midst of deciding what to eat for lunch when the senior editor came running into the intern room, saying that the naming ceremony for "U2 Way" was under way, and that the band was there with Mayor Bloomberg. He asked for an intern to race there and snap a few pictures, and as the rock nerd of the crew, I was selected.

By Melanie Wolfson and Kathleen Newman-Bremang

Can Lil Rounds live up to the hype? We've got a preview of the aforementioned diva and her fellow contestants in the last "American Idol" group vying for three spots in the top 12 tonight.

MTV News' gives 10 reasons Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" adaptation could be considered the riskiest movie ever. And Billy Crudup going full-frontal is only one of them.

Britney Spears gave fans an early look at what to expect on her Circus tour, which kicks off tonight in New Orleans, by posting a set list on her Web site. And by the way, we'll be in N'Awlins tonight, so check back for plenty of stories about the show.

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto swear they are not dating. After talking to "Slumdog Millionaire" producer Christian Colson and director Danny Boyle, we're starting to believe them.

U2's brand-new album, No Line on the Horizon, hits stores today, and they've got a new gig as Letterman's house band this week. We take a minute to look back at their last big release and mega-tour.

By Benjamin Wagner

The last time I interviewed Bono was at the Sundance premiere of his modest Irish quartet's modest little concert flick, "U2 3D," a rock doc so massive it required 250-pound cameras shooting 70mm film and was helmed by not one but two directors.

At the time, U2 were still fleshing out their then-untitled 12th album with the aid of Joshua Tree co-producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

"Daniel is about the ancient," Bono explained. "And Brian is about the modern, the future, the things that haven't happened. Somewhere between that is our next album."

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You were expecting perhaps a dissection of the impact of mosquito netting on the incidence of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa? A thoughtful rumination on the long-term impact of the global financial crisis on debt-relief schedules in the emerging world, perhaps?

Or a diary on boozy New Year's Eve revelry from the lead singer of a rock band? If you picked "C," then clearly you knew how high to aim for the Sunday debut of guest New York Times op-ed columnist Bono. The Irish bar(d) is, of course, a world-renowned philanthropist, a compassionate provoker of stubborn politicians and a deep, poetic thinker when it comes to delivering everything from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speeches to impassioned exhortations to world-governing bodies on the importance of bootstrapping the developing world.

But c'mon, the dude's also been one of the biggest rock stars on the planet for nearly 30 years. So when Bono's column began with the phrase "Once upon a couple of weeks ago" and continued with the scene-setting furniture, "I'm in a crush in a Dublin pub around New Year's. Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry: swinging doors, sweethearts falling in and out of the season's blessings, family feuds subsumed or resumed. Malt joy and ginger despair are all in the queue to be served on this, the quarter-of-a-millennium mark since Arthur Guinness first put velvety blackness in a pint glass," I knew what I was in for.

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